Typically, component parts for aircraft are produced by taking castings, slab stock, plate, bar, or forgings, etc. and then by machining away surplus material to produce the component parts.
Additive Manufacturing (AM) (also known as Additive Layer Manufacture (ALM), 3D printing, etc.) is a process that may be used to produce functional, complex objects, layer by layer, without moulds or dies. Typically, such processes include providing material (e.g. metal or plastic) in the form of a powder or a wire. Using a powerful heat source such as a laser beam, Electron Beam (EB) or an electric or plasma welding arc, an amount of that material is melted and deposited (e.g. on a base plate of a work piece). Subsequent layers are then built up upon each preceding layer.
Example AM processes include, but are not limited to, Laser Blown Powder, Laser Wire feed, Laser Powder Bed, EB Wire and electric or plasma welding arc technologies.
“A new Design For Manufacture (DFM) approach to combine machining and additive manufacturing”, Olivier Kerbrat et al discloses a Design For Manufacturing (DFM) approach in which quantitative information is provided during the product design stage of which product modules will benefit in being machined and which ones will advantageously be realized by an additive process (such as Selective Laser Sintering or laser deposition). A methodology for a manufacturability evaluation in case of a subtractive or an additive manufacturing process is provided.